American Tale: Kyoko Goes West
by SockOompaloompa
Summary: Not an Old West Challenge, just couldn't think of another name. A/U - What if Kyoko was forced to move to California with her mother before running away to Tokyo with Sho. This does have some adult situations and language.
1. Introduction

Introduction:

What if Kyoko never had a chance to go with Sho to Tokyo because she was forced by her mother to move to California? This is an AU/OOC Story about Kyoko moving to California and meeting Kuon, who chose not to leave his parents.

Authors Notes:

First, I tried really hard to keep this story as in character as possible, but I did lose it in some places. This setting would put the characters in such different places in their lives that I hope the OOC works. I also tried very hard to stick with some Skip Beat! themes that we know and love.

Second, I did close their age gap. They are now only one-year apart. Sorry, but I couldn't make the story work as well otherwise.

Lastly, I would like to apologize in advance but while this story is complete, a lot of parts were glossed over that I would have liked to add, and it could really use some editing. But my life has taken a bit of a change and I won't have as much time to dedicate to anything like this soon, and I had been writing this for so long that I really wanted to share it with everyone.

Hope you all enjoy,

Sock


	2. Chapter 1 - Kyoko

**Kyoko**

Kyoko took a deep breath as she stared at the large white building. It was imposing and familiar all at the same time. After all it was a school. A school with red terracotta tiles making up the roof and a grand staircase that lead to an upper courtyard. Just a regular old school. In America. What was American high school like? She really didn't know. She studied up on it, so that she would at least be somewhat ready, but now that she was here she was just scared, and angry. She didn't understand why she had to come to America when her mother decided to come here. It's not like she ever cared about just leaving her with the Fuwa's before. If only Sho and her had run away a week earlier. She would happily be living in Tokyo with her prince while he pursued his dream to be a singer. Now, now she was stuck in Los Angeles going to a school with a bunch of rich kids who she didn't know because her mother's new law firm was "family oriented" and it would have looked bad for her mother to move without her. Dragging her feet she began her ascent to the building. She knew she needed to find the office and that her mother already made arrangements with her schedule, but she had no clue how she was suppose to find her way around the massive building. Already she felt like she was stepping into an alien world. First, she didn't have to wear a uniform. She had worn a uniform every day since she could remember, so to not be wearing one just felt strange and uncomfortable. Almost like she wasn't going to school at all. The only good to come out of this whole fiasco of having to move to America was that her mother gave her free reign of her credit card for a day and instructed her to buy an appropriate wardrobe for an American teenager. Of course she couldn't bring herself to by the high end designer items that her mother might have prefered but she was quite pleased with her selection. She even was able to purchase some make up, even though she didn't know how to put it on and was quite intimidated by it. Second was the car's. In Japan everyone walked or rode bikes, teenagers didn't drive to school. The schools didn't even have a place for them to park so it was actually more hassle for them to drive. But here at in this alien world there were rows and rows of the metal monstrosities all shining in the early morning sunlight. As she continued making her way to the building she envisioned herself to be an explorer, touching down on an alien world. All about her students milled about talking with each other or snapping selfies pictures with their phones. When she finally entered the building she really didn't know what she expected to see. She already knew that the students in american schools didn't change out of their street shoes into slippers like they did in Japan, but she was honestly blown away by the grandeur of this building. She knew this was an elite private school, but she expected something a bit more reserved. She should have known better. The large windows allowed the sunlight to stream inside the building, causing the white walls to glow. Recessed in the walls were lockers that appeared to be made of a strong polished wood. She had expected the lockers, but in all the american high school movies the lockers where a colored metal. The polished wood screamed upscale. She glanced around the cavernous room. None stopped or paid her any attention. Finally she saw a door with large silver letters over it that said "Office" sighing she hitched her bag over her shoulder and marched resolutely toward the large glass door. So intent Kyoko was on her destination that she failed to notice the tall blond boy who was moving perpendicular to her, his head down, reading a paper. She bounced off his tall frame and fell back on her butt and looked up at him, her breath hitching as she caught sight of his blond hair and green eyes.

"Gomenasai" she said automatically from her position on the floor. Corn, the thought came unbidden from her mind, then his green eyes flashed angrily at her.

"You're in America, speak English." He sneered and started to move away then said over his shoulder "And watch where you're going."

She sat in shock, her heart thundering in fear at the violent anger coming from him. Shaking her head, she frowned, no he couldn't have been Corn. So silly of me, she slapped her forehead, why would a fairy be here at this school. Peeling herself off the floor she continued to make her way to the office and was greeted by a bored looking woman who was typing away at the computer in front of her.

"Hello," Kyoko said tentatively in English "I'm new, today is my first day."

"It's the first day of school," the woman replied coldly, "It's everyone's first day."

"Eh, sorry," Kyoko bowed a little as she spoke, "I mean to say it's my first day at a high school in America, I just moved here from Japan and I'm not really sure what I am supposed to do." The woman finally looked up from her computer to examine the girl.

"Ahh, you're that one. One moment please." The woman stands up and moved to an office and stuck her head in. A moment later a tall man with light brown hair and happy looking blue eyes dressed in a nice suit greeted her.

"Ah Miss. Mogami, Welcome to our humble school. I'm the principal, my name is Mr. Asher, come into my office and we will discuss your schedule."

Kyoko bowed respectfully to the principal and moved to follow him. The man smiled kindly at her. "First, and I am sure you are aware of it, but we don't bow here in America." Kyoko smiled, "I know, but it's a hard habit to break."

"Ok, well," the man said as he sat across from her and handed her a piece of paper, "It's good that you already seem to be fluent in speaking English, how are you at reading it." She looked at the paper that listed out her schedule.

"I can read this just fine, but I guess I don't understand some of these classes." She looked up at him. "Theater Arts? I know nothing about acting or theater, I'm really not interested in it." Mr. Asher just nodded.

"I understand that, but how high school works out here is you have to have so many credit hours in different subjects in order to graduate properly. We transferred what we could from your 9th grade year back in Japan, but you are woefully behind in you performing arts requirements. Theater Arts was the only performing arts class that fit your schedule didn't require a previous proficiency. If you know how to play an instrument I can move you into an ensemble if you like."

Kyoko just shook her head, trying to wrap her head around this credit hours system. "No, I don't play an instrument." The man smiled at her.

"The class is great, you don't have to act, you can work as a stagehand too and just work in the background. We have one of our Seniors assisting the teacher in the class, his father is actually the half Japanese actor Kuu Hizuri. That's another reason I put you into the class. I figured Kuon might be able to ease your transition since he is fluent in Japanese."

Kyoko froze, and looked at the man, the image of the blond boy springing to her mind, "Corn? Did you just say Corn?" Mr. Asher laughed. "No no girl, Ku-o-n" he pronounced the name slower. Kyoko's body came back to life, oh, it's not Corn. Why do I feel so disappointed?

"Well he might not be that helpful, now that I think about it, his friend passed away last year and he's been… well not himself." Kyoko just nodded, not really paying attention.

"We will be having a member of our student council show you around, she should be here any moment, but I have one last thing I would like to discuss with you." Kyoko resisted the urge to groan, girls didn't seem to like her much. Wait, the thought drifted into her mind. They didn't like her because of how close she was to Sho, yet these girls here would have no clue who Sho was. Her whole countenance brightened, surprising the Principal. Finally, she might be able to have a female friend.

"So does that mean you'll do it?" The principal asked. "Eh?" she responded finally looking at the man. "I just asked if you could help tutor some of our International Affairs students in Japanese after school."

"Oh," Kyoko brightened again, "I'm not sure how good of a job I can do but I will be happy to help."

"Excellent," He clapped his hands and stood up. "Kindle should be here by now, she will be showing you where all of your classes are and how to get into your locker. Since it's the first day of school you will get copies of all your books in class today with the rest of the students." Ushering her out of the office he walked up to a girl about Kyoko's height with long curling red hair and a pair of black framed glasses perched on her nose. She was dressed in a cute sundress with a cardigan on her shoulders. She looks so cute! Kyoko thought as she took in the girl. I hope we can be friends.

"Kindle," the big man greeted her, "This is Kyoko Mogami, please help her out for the next few days till she gets the swing of things here in America." The girl smiled at Kyoko and bowed partially and said in broken Japanese ,

"Konnichiwa Mogami-San" Kyoko felt flattered at her attempt to greet her in Japanese and so she bowed low to the girl and replied "Ohayou gozaimasu, Kindle-chan." Then in English she added, "Please take care of me." Mr. Asher grinned at the exchange. "Kindle here is also one of the International Affairs students you will be tutoring Kyoko." Standing Kyoko attempted an American greeting with the girl and stuck out her hand to her "It's a pleasure to meet you, you can call me Kyoko."

"Alright, you girls run along now, you don't want to be late for your first day of classes. Kindle, your teachers all know you are assisting Kyoko so they will let you out a few minutes early for each class."

Looking at the paper in her hand Kindle grinned at Kyoko, and motioned for her to head out the door first. "I don't envy your schedule Kyoko, it's pretty heavy with all these honors courses, and helping out with the IA students after school." She frowned at the girl. "Oh geeze, and you have theater arts, you have to put up with Sir Grumpsalot."

"Sir Grumpsalot?" Kyoko quirked her brow at the girl.

"It's what I call Kuon, he used to be super nice, but then his friend died a few years ago and now he is just… mean…" Kindle shrugged, "Mr. Asher tried to have him help tutor the IA students but he blew it off and if he did show up he just called us all stupid. I'm not his biggest fan."

Kyoko frowned, "I don't think I'm looking forward to that class."

"Well, on the plus side," Kindle grinned at her, "You have 3 out of 7 classes with me."

Kyoko smiled broadly. "I look forward to having fun with you in class." Kindle giggled, "Me too. Oh,"

She pointed ahead of her, "There's your locker, lets me show you how to open it."

It took Kyoko several tries to work the dial combination on her lock to her satisfaction. Kindle was amazing. She never once got frustrated or tried to rush her along, she just patiently waited while she got the hang of the lock, all the while asking her questions about where she grew up and what Japan was like. She was also constantly bombarded with greetings from her school friends. Kyoko found herself admiring the girl for her style, grace, beauty and popularity. Every Time they ran into one of Kindles friends, she always introduced Kyoko as the "new student from Japan" which always caused quite a stir. Much to Kyoko's dismay many of the students asked about her taste in anime and a few went more in-depth to ask about what manga she follows.

Kyoko blushed when asked about it, mostly because it seemed that this was the only thing Americans knew about Japan and the fact that she really didn't follow either anime or manga. Inwardly she cursed herself for not following them, it would have at least given her something to talk about with the students here in California.

The rest of the day was OK yet Theater Arts was her last period of the day. To her carriage, the boy she bumped into earlier, was the fabled Sir Grumpsalot Kuon. When she entered the room he just glared at her. He seemed distant from everyone but for some reason, she noticed she was the only one to receive the special glare treatment from Mr. Kuon Hizuri. Try as she might, Kyoko couldn't fathom why he hated her so much. Yes, she was handsome, and she could see why all the girls seemed to swoon at the sight of him. But in her mind, he was nothing compared to her Prince. Maybe that was way, the thought came, because she wasn't swayed by his good looks. Despite the grouch in the corner (she couldn't help but agree with Kindles nickname) Theater Arts was pretty fun. First, the teacher asked why they joined the class. When they got to Kyoko's turn she answered honestly, that she needed the credit and this was the only class that fit her schedule, Kuon scowled deeply and glared at her. She shrugged it off but then they played a game called the Hitchhiker. The teacher put four chairs in two by two rows and had four students sit down. The one in the "passenger seat" started talking and acting in whatever way they wanted and the rest of the people in the "car" had to act the same way until there was another hitchhiker. It took until almost the end of class for Kyoko to finally decide to join in the game. Tentatively she stuck out her thumb. She knew from her day that many of her classmates assumed that if you were from Japan, then that meant you were an Otaku so she decided to act out her version of an Otaku for her classmates. Once she started raving about the only manga she could think of, Fairy Tale, the rest of the "car" kicked in. Somehow she managed to forget about the scowling figure who decided to take up residence in the seats and have fun.


	3. Chapter 2 - Kuon

**Kuon**

"I fucking hate school" Kuon grumbled under his breath as he grabbed his books and slammed his locker door. He sneered as heard a laugh coming from his left. It was a girl he vaguely recognized as a junior and the Japanese girl he bumped into that morning. Apparently, they were having a grand old time laughing at the Japanese girls attempts to open her locker.

"Fucking morons he muttered," as he hiked his backpack over his shoulder and turned to head to his first class. Sometimes he wondered what possessed him to stay in California. After Rick passed he had the opportunity to go to Japan and act, but instead of accepting the offer he showed the president of LME his favorite finger and stalked out of the room. At least if he went to Japan he wouldn't have to go to school. A little voice in the back of his head tried to remind him that he would have had to learn how to read Kanji if he was going to make it in the Japanese entertainment industry, but he promptly told it to piss off.

The day passed by in a grey blur. For Kuon, most days were pretty much similar. Get up, go to school, make decent enough grades to keep his parents off his back, eat enough to survive and go to sleep. Since the night he took Rick's life he didn't fight anymore, but that didn't mean his anger wasn't still there. Wasn't still just simmering under the surface waiting to explode. Most people knew enough to maintain their distance. However, whether fortunately or unfortunately for him, Courtney didn't seem to mind his perpetual scowl and sharp retorts. She was the sharpest tool in the shed, but she had a dynamite body and she seemed to understand that he wasn't interested in a relationship. She didn't care because they didn't exactly have conversations. Their relationship was more on the physical level, and for Kuon that was more than enough. This was the one release he allowed himself.

So when two days after school started, while he was on his way to tutor the morons in International Affairs in Russian and Japanese, when Courtney pulled him into an abandoned classroom, he responded with vigor. He tugged on her long blond hair just sharply enough to get her to yelp as he positioned her mouth where he could plunder it easily. It really wasn't too long before she was starting to moan and writhe against him. Slowly he moved his hand up to cup her breast and began unbuttoning her blouse so feel her, skin on skin. He was just beginning to really get into the makeout session, his hand full of her breast when he heard a startled squeak. Whipping his head toward the door he sent a deadly glare in that direction.

Standing just inside the entrance to the room was a very red, very startled Japanese girl. Her eyes were so wide and expressive with her shock and more than a little fear at the glare he cast at her. In her shock, she seemed to forget herself completely and she began bowing and apologizing to an emperor and speaking in extremely rapid Japanese saying something about excuse her shameless interference, that she had the wrong room, and she would leave him to his fondling and she ran from the room faster than he could blink.

Stunned he stared at the girl for a moment while his brain slowly processed her rapid Japanese and actions, and for the first time in four years, for the first time since Rick died.

He laughed.

He laughed so hard that he was doubled over clutching his stomach. Courtney, on the other hand, was not amused. She did not find it funny to be interrupted during her time with Kuon, she did not find it funny that she was caught half dressed, and she did not find it remotely funny that Kuon had all but forgotten her existence as the little dark haired girl bolted out of the room.

"Kuon!" the girl whined, tossed her hair, and stomped her foot. "It's not funny!" Unfortunately for her, her little display just pushed the blond boy further into his mirth. Fed up with the laughter she reared her hand back and slapped her lover hard across his face and stomped out of the room.

The slap served its purpose. It sobered him instantly and he realized what happened. That he was just laughing uncontrollably. He was, for a moment… happy, and that was one thing that was not allowed.

"Rick is dead, you murderer, you aren't allowed to be happy and laughing. Not while he is underground and denied his happiness."

His pep talk put him back in the "proper" frame of mind. "It's that damn Jap's fault," He mumbled, his wrath finding a target. "She made me forget and," he said adjusting his still semi-hard shaft, "she fucked up my chance to get laid." Running his hand through his hair he glanced at his watch. To make matters worse he was late to the IA meeting. If he was late because he was getting laid then that was ok, but now he was late because he was cockblocked by a Japanese prude. Grabbing his discarded bag he made his way out of the hall and down to the room where he was supposed to be providing tutoring.

Turning the door he was surprised to see the typically anal and studious International Affairs group gathered around a chair like it was story time in elementary school. In the center of the group was the person he wanted to see the least. The Japanese girl. She no longer looked scandalized and afraid, she was laughing happily at something someone was saying and Kuon felt tempted to laugh again, just remembering her expression. Instead, he took in her happy expression and let it fuel his wrath.

As if sensing his anger the girl slowly stopped talking, shrank back in her chair and turned to look at him, a slight blush beginning to form on her cheeks. Following her gaze, the rest of the group turned to look as well. The junior girl that was with her earlier just rolled her eyes at him, not swayed at least by his ire.

"Ignore Sir Grumpsalot," She said as she nudged her new foreign friend, "Go back to what you were saying, about the school system in Japan." The Japanese girl snorted but quickly schooled her face and turned back to the group.

Kuon leveled a scowl at the junior girl He could sense that she was still uncomfortable, and embarrassed about what had happened sooner, but Kuon couldn't help but be impressed how she managed to keep what she was feeling from her face. Rolling his eyes he made his way to a chair on the other side of the room and began to work on his homework. This bunch knew the drill, he was here because he was forced to be here if they asked for help, he would help but mostly he would use the time to work on his homework.

As the rest of the hour progressed he could tell he was forgotten about by the group at large, which he was more than fine with, but every time he heard that girl laugh, he grew steadily angrier. So engrossed in his work and his anger he didn't realize when the rest of the group had left until he saw a figure move into his peripheral vision. Glancing up he frowned. It was the Japanese girl. She fidgeted nervously, her face red. The anger that Kuon was feeling settled in his chest as she spoke in a soft voice, with surprisingly good English.

"I'm really very sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt you earlier. I was given the wrong room number." She bowed again, it seemed to be a habit of hers.

Throwing his book into his backpack he stood up to his full height and loomed over the girl. Who squealed and took a startled step back.

"Let get one thing straight right now," he leaned in just a bit closer to her, "You stay the fuck away from me," he said as he shoved past the now petrified girl and made his way to his car.

Alone in his car, Kuon slowly took a drag of his cigarette, and then released his breath as the nicotine settled in his system. Temporarily he closed his eyes in bliss allowing this one small pleasure as he settled back against the hood of his car. He would never dare smoke inside his car, his parents would kill him if they knew he smoked. He had gotten quite adept at hiding it from them since he started doing his own laundry. Opening his eyes again he stared at the blue sky and allowed his mind to go numb. Halfway through his cigarette, a movement caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. It was that damn girl again.

"What is she doing, stalking me?" the angry though broke into his mind. Getting ready to stub out his smoke and give the idiot girl a piece of his mind he noticed that she wasn't coming toward him. She was making her way down the massive parking lot and walking out between the gates at the entrance to the school. "What is that moron doing?" he wondered, "There are no housing developments within two miles of this school."


	4. Chapter 3 - Kyoko

**Kyoko**

Kyoko pulled out her new phone as she began her walk to work and pouted in disappointment as she noticed there were no new messages. When her mother came to her to tell her that she was moving to America and Kyoko was coming with she had given the girl a phone. Her mother's explanation was that it was standard in the States for teenagers to have phones. Kyoko knew her mother was all about appearance, so she didn't put too much stock in the gift. She made sure to give the number to Sho-chan, but it was going on a month and a half in the states and he had only called her once to ask if she knew where one of his favorite shirts might be. She called him once a week, to see how he is doing and find out how his life is going in Tokyo, but he never picked up.

"He's busy Kyoko, becoming a music idol isn't easy work." she mumbled as she shoved her phone back in her pocket. Making a mental note she decided she would see if she could find anything about him online on the computer her school lent her. That was one interesting about her school. They gave every student a laptop and expected them to use it for their textbooks and all their work. Part of her wondered what was the point of even going into school. She knew she shouldn't use the computer for personal use, it made her feel guilty, but she really didn't have any other idea of how to find out what was going on with her beloved prince and all the other kids at school made it sound like it was OK to use it for searching the internet.

The little over a mile and a half walk to her after school job was uneventful. The weather was nice, bordering on hot while she was in the direct sunshine. She smiled up at the building as she pushed the door to enter. Kyoko was extremely grateful to have found this job. The inside of the restaurant was elegant and calming, the natural wood paneling and soft light reminded her of her time living with the Fuwa's at the Ryokan. She bowed politely at the owner and made her way into the lady's changing room and pulled on her navy blue work yukata. Pushing all her worries from her mind she plastered a smile on her face and went out to greet the customer.

"Kyoko-chan," Amy, another server, and floor manager, at the restaurant called her over as she bowed out the last customer of the evening. "Here are your tips for the night," she smiled and handed Kyoko a roll of cash. Kyoko smiled and thanked the girl gratefully even though she was dying inside to just push the money back in the older woman's hands. She had learned on her first night to just accept the money, even though it made her uncomfortable. Apparently for servers in America tips where how they made the bulk of their pay, yet as a child she was always taught not to accept them. It was something she struggled with, but since she had a goal with the money, she decided to happily accept it. Well, she had two goals. Her first was to get a bike so she could move around a bit easier, her second was to get a plane ticket back home to Japan.

When her mother decided to accept the job in America, she informed Kyoko that she didn't care what the girl did once she turned 18 and graduated high school, because an 18-year-old setting out on their own in America was expected. She even said she would sign documentation that she could legally be emancipated from her. As she changed back to her school clothes she pictured her return to Japan. She would be wearing a long flowing dress, and as she stepped off the plane Sho's arms would wrap around her and twirl her around like they do in all the romantic scenes in movies. She sighed and twisted from side to side. It would be perfect. Because Sho, was a perfect prince.

Life for Kyoko settled into a steady routine. She got up, went to school, went to work, did her homework and then repeated the process. The one major difference from her life in Japan, other than everything American, was that now she had a good group of friends. Kindle and a girl named Tanner from her Theater Arts class were the two she spent the most time with. They even called her up just to talk about their day. Kyoko had never had friends like that and the girls laughed a bit when she told them.

"I don't get it Kyoko," Tanner twirled her long brown hair around her finger as she spoke to her friend. "Why didn't you have any girl friends back in Kyoto. You are, like, literally the nicest person on the planet."

Kyoko beamed and blushed a little at the compliment. "Well, I was really close to one of the boys at the school. I actually lived with his family for a time. I think the other girls might have been a bit envious of my situation," she admitted shyly. Kindle snorted, "What was so great about this guy?"

"Well, he's very handsome, a perfect prince," Kyoko said with a faraway glimmer in her eye, "He is also a singer in a local band, well he used to be. He ran off to Tokyo to become a music idol a few months ago." Kindle and Tanner just nodded, understanding why the girls might be interested.

"But," Tanner piped in again, "Why would that keep the girls from being your friend? See, if I found out you liked JJ," she referenced a handsome senior who also was also her long-term crush, "I would still want to be your friend, may the best girl win and all that." Kyoko just smiled, "The girls there were kind of mean, Sho was one of those boys where no one could have him, and because we happened to be close, they took their frustration out on me."

Kindle frowned, "What do you mean?"

"They would do things like throw away my possessions, hide my desk, put nails in my slippers, you know… standard bullying." Kyoko responded with a shrug.

Kindle and Tanner's eyes grew wide. "No Kyoko, that's not standard… well, at least not here." Kindle and Tanner's looked over Kyoko's shoulder at her current tormentor. Courtney. The leggy blond had been attempting to torment Kyoko since she interrupted her session with the boy she learned to be named Kuon. "Girls here are more catty and subtle. They will try to undermine you, call you names and things, try to get you to get physical and make the first move then they can claim they were the victim all along." Tanner informed her. Kyoko thought about her interaction with the girl. She would call her ugly, rather loudly. Often times, Kyoko noticed, when Kuon seemed to be standing close by. Kyoko didn't understand why the girl bothered, all Kuon did was glare icicles at her every time he saw her. It wasn't like they were close or anything, and Kyoko had no interest in being anywhere near the Demon Lord.

Overhead the bell trilled and the girls gathered their belongs. Kyoko and Tanner started heading down the hall toward their Theater Arts class. "You know Kyoko, I don't think this Sho guy was a very good friend to you." Shocked Kyoko stopped and looked at the girl, "Why not? We were always together, he's the one who knows me best."

Tanner smiled sadly at the girl, "If he was a good friend, he would have defended you and told those girls to stop bullying you." Kyoko just shook her head in negation with a smile, "Oh, no no he never knew about the bullying because I never told him." Tanner frowned again, "Kyoko, you just said that he knew you best," she pulled open the door for her friend, "If that were really true, he would know something was upsetting you, he would know how those girls were treating you, and how they were hurting you. That's what friends do, they protect each other." Kyoko just frowned as she entered the class through the door Tanner had opened. She really had no reply.

"Alright class," Mr. McGregor claps his hands, a giddy expression on his face. "On Monday we will have our first acting challenge." An excited chatter perked up around the room. Kyoko looked over at her friend and smiled, she really really hoped she could be a princess for this challenge. She imagined herself riding off into the sunset on a white horse behind Sho. Bringing her hands to her cheeks she attempted to bring herself back from LaLa land. Her eyes fell on Kuon as she regained herself just to find his typical dark scowl directed at her. "So, since this is supposed to be a challenge, your classmates, Kuon and I will be picking your roles for you. These roles should be something that's opposite of how you normally are. The goal is to be completely out of your comfort zone." Kyoko fidgeted in her seat as Mr. McGregor started working to figure out various roles for students, and tried to think about what was the opposite of her, but she was drawing a blank. I'm sure Tanner with think of something good, she knows how much I like fairy tales, she looked at her friend with wide sparkling eyes. When it got to her turn to get cast in a role the voice she heard wasn't that of her friend. It was actually a voice she had only ever heard once before, but she knew from the frostiness coming from the voice it could only be one person. Kuon.

"I think she should be a bully." The tall blond boy said immediately after Mr. McGregor said her name. All eyes moved to him and, if possibly, have off a more ominous aura. "Explain." Mr. McGregor turned to his student assistant. Kuon just shrugged, "She's always so fu….damn happy," the boy corrected his language. "Like she doesn't have a care in the world. I can't imagine her bullying anyone." She turned to Tanner with silent pleading eyes, Tanner knew about her past with bullying, but her hope for rescue was dashed when she saw the thoughtful look in her friend's eye.

"I agree," Tanner said suddenly and Kyoko pouted, "I think Kyoko should be the bully, and I should be the victim."

"But.." Kyoko began, but before she could explain that her beautiful, confident friend could never be the victim of bullying, Mr. McGregor clapped his hands together and declared it "Done." Kyoko was outraged at her friend needing to play such a low character and glared over at Kuon, who had a slightly less than angry smirk on his face. As his eyes met her glare, his smirk became more pronounced. Then, as if flicking a light switch, the amused smirk was gone and his icy glare was back. Kyoko shrank back in her chair and waited impatiently for the bell to ring so she could talk with her friend.

"What was that all about? I can't be a bully and you are too beautiful to be a victim of bullying." Tanner blushed at the compliment.

"Because of 1. A bully _is_ opposite your personality, I just can't see you being mean to anyone. 2. It was better than some of the other suggestions that could have been thrown out there. 3. This lets us be partners together." Kyoko smiled at the last one, then frowned. "I don't know how to be a bully," she insisted. Tanner just snorted and nodded in the direction of Courtney who happened to look in Kyoko's direction, glance at her outfit then said something to her gaggle of friends who all turned to look dismissively in Kyoko's direction. The group laughed as they walked away, hips swaying. "It's easy for you, just pretend you're here."

After school Tanner and Kyoko made their way back to Kindle and waved in greeting. Kyoko shuffled through her locker as Tanner told the other girl about their acting assignment.

"I wish I could see it, It's gotta be good. Oh! Hey, we should all go shopping!" Tanner rolled her eyes, "Your solution to everything is shopping."

"Is that a yes?"

"Of course"

"What about you Kyoko," Kindle looked over at the girl who was rooted in shock and surprise but had the happiest expression on her face. "Can I? I've never been shopping with friends before." The other girls laughed. "Of course silly. You don't have to work tonight do you?" Kyoko just shook her head in the negative, it was rare but she had this Friday off. "Well OK then, I'm driving." Then flicking her hair over her shoulder and gesturing toward the door with her arm, Kindle said with a funny accent, "We go!"

Shopping with friends was more fun than she imagined. The girls did what they called window shopping where they would roam from store to store. Try on outfits they liked, outfits they thought were funny, and sometimes what they thought would look best on the other girls, but much to Kyoko's delight they didn't really buy anything. It wasn't that Kyoko didn't have any money, she actually had quite a bit saved up, but she really didn't want to dip into that meager savings to fit in.

They were nearing the end of their time together because Kindle and Tanner had to get home to eat dinner with their families when they found it. The bright pink dress started off as a joke between the other girls.

"What color is this?" Kindle laughed holding up the bring pink wrap dress. "Melt your eyes pink?" Tanner supplied with a laugh. Kyoko giggled, she had to agree that the color was garish but the cut of the dress was cute, which she shared with the girls. Grinning at each other, Kindle the thrust the dress in her direction.

"Go put it on, we will look to see if it's in any other color." Kyoko turned a brilliant shade of pink and started shaking her head. "No no no no… I couldn't… it shows so much skin.. I couldn't possibly." Tanner started pouting, giving her a puppy dog expression.

"Please Kyoko, we tried on embarrassing things today too… we just wanna have fun with you, you don't have to buy it or anything." Guilted she grabbed the dress and made her way to the fitting rooms. Embarrassed she put on the bright pink dress, and without glancing in the mirror she stepped out to show her friends.

The girls stopped in shock and stared at Kyoko. Without saying anything Kindle reached over and pulled Kyoko's hair out of its usual ponytail and both girls took an appraising step back. Kyoko fidgeted nervously. After several moments of silence, she finally asked, "Well?"

Kindle just made a motion for her to turn around, shrugging Kyoko obliged. When she completed her circle both girls said in unison.

"You _have_ to get that dress."

"Wha...I thought I was just trying it on as a joke.. You all said the color…"

"The color looks amazing on you," Tanner interrupted her, "And the cut is to die for on you. It emphasizes your breast, how tiny your waist is… I hate you for that by the way… and most importantly it makes your legs look killer." As Tanner spoke Kyoko's face gradually became more and redder, "But., it's so shameless."

"That's the point!" Kindle turned her in the mirror so she could examine herself. "This is not only the perfect dress for your body, but it's also the perfect dress for you to wear for your skit on Monday." Behind her back, she thought she might have seen the girls wink at each other.

Subconsciously Kyoko started trying to mimic how she saw Courtney stand. It just made her look like she had to pee. "Gahhhh it's no gooooodddd." She despaired, "I just look like I really need to use the restroom!" The girls laughed.

Examining her for a minute Tanner started pushing and pulling at her body till she stood in a relaxed posture, her hip thrust to the side and her hand upon her waist."

"Daaaammmmnnnnn girl," Kindle nodded in approval.

"Now you try, go back to normal and try to mimic this pose," Tanner instructed. Kyoko obliged and was happy to note that Tanner only had to make a few adjustments with her new pose. After several attempts at standing, Kindle suggested, "Now let's see if she can walk like her," Kyoko obliged by moving across the floor. Once again Tanner adjusted her body and then showed her how to move and Kyoko mimicked her friend.

"You're doing really good," Tanner praised her, "Now you just need to practice, and maybe not smile as much. I don't get a bully vibe when you smile like that." Kyoko nodded.

"Sooooo," Kindle looked at her Japanese friend. "Are you getting the dress?"


	5. Chapter 4 - Kuon

**Kuon**

Kuon pulled at the sleeves of the deep green yukata he was being forced to wear. If it wasn't his parents anniversary, and if his mom hadn't given him "the look." He wouldn't be here. Combing his blond locks back from his face he made his way down the corridor to the restroom from the private dining room where they would be spending the next several hours. For their anniversary his parents decided they wanted to have a traditional Japanese tea ceremony and a traditional Japanese dinner. Kuon couldn't help but feel a little sorry to the kitchen staff and how they were going to fulfil his father's black hole of a stomach. Glancing in the kitchen he saw the flurry of activity he expected, but it wasn't from a large team of chef's, it appeared to be one older gentleman and a young girl who seemed to move around the kitchen at the speed of light. As he watched in amazement he realized that he recognized the girl. It was the Japanese girl from school. Kyoko. It wasn't lost on him that this girl shared the same name with the girl he met in Kyoto when he was a kid, and when he looked close he felt like he could see the similarities between the two, but he dismissed the similarities as a coincidence of having the same name. His ambivalent mood quickly dissipated as this realization dawned on him. As if suddenly sensing his presence the girl stopped moving suddenly, yet the large filled pot she was carrying didn't seem to get the memo and her and the pot toppled over taking the small girl with it. She yelped in pain as she hit the ground, her ankle twisting momentarily at an unnatural angle. Kuon refrained himself from going to her aid. Instead he rolled his eyes and continued to move on as he heard the other chef in the kitchen beginning to fret over the girl and insist on getting her an ice pack. On his way back to his parents private dining room he heard a man wail in despair.

"What are we going to do?! Maya is out on maternity leave and I don't have another girl good enough to do a Tea ceremony for such a big named star."

"Uneo-san," she said speaking in Japanese, "It will be alright, I will still be able to perform the tea ceremony."

"Kyoko-chan I can't have you do that, it won't be a beautiful experience if you are grimacing in pain the whole time." Kuon peaked around the corner to see the man kneeling before Kyoko, his head resting in his hands.

"Uneo-san, I promise, It will be a beautiful tea ceremony, they won't even know that I hurt myself. See," she removed the ice pack that was resting on her ankle and started to move around the room, "It doesn't even hurt anymore. All will be fine." She assured the older gentleman putting her hand on his shoulder and giving him a small smile.

"Eh, really? You feel better already? You sure are a resilient girl Kyoko-chan, but I still want you to take it easy until the tea ceremony. You work over there and I will pass you the things I need you to prepare, OK?"

"Hai," the girl bowed and did what the man directed her to do. When Uneo's back was turned he noticed the grimace of pain that crossed the girl's features as she made her way carefully to her station.

So she thinks she can hide that she is in pain the whole time? This will at least be interesting. I wonder if I can make her crack and show her pain. Were the thoughts that filled Kuon's head as he made his way back to the dining room.

It had been four hours. Four. And the whole time the girl betrayed no expression of pain or discomfort. She sat with the most serene expression he had ever seen and performed the most beautiful tea ceremony he had ever witnessed. All along she kept up a pleasant conversation with his parents. Kuon tried to make her uncomfortable by shifting and making comments about his ankles hurting and giving the girl pointed looks, which she completely ignored. Ever movement was sheer grace and beauty, just like she promised the chef. Maybe she didn't hurt it as bad as I thought. He did have to say one thing about this whole tiring experience, at least the food was good. He didn't have much of an appetite, but he found himself eating everything that was put in front of him. It was so unusual that his parents even commented on it.

"Look at Kuon eat. Last time we were here I think he only ate his rice and his miso soup." His father remarked, "Did the chef change the recipe?" Kuon noticed a slight blush cross Kyoko's cheeks and he rolled his eyes. "Actually, I prepared most of the meal, I might have made the flavors a bit lighter than the chef normally makes his flavors. I had heard people remark at school that Hizuri-san," she gestured at Kuon, "doesn't eat that much." Kuu's and Julie's eyes rose in surprise.

"You two go to school together?" Julie inquired and Kyoko nodded but didn't volunteer any more information and when his mom looked at him, he took a big bite of his meal and rolled his eyes at her.

"So Kyoko-chan," Kuu decided to change the subject, "Where in Japan are you from? I honestly have to say I haven't seen such a beautiful tea ceremony in a long time." Kyoko smiled gently and lifted the teapot.

"I grew up in Kyoto, for several years I lived with a family who runs a Ryokan out there. The Okamisan taught me the art of the tea ceremony."

"Really," Kuu's eyes lit up with excitement, "I am also from Kyoto…" and the older gentleman launched a discussion with the girl about the shrines and places to eat around the area. To Kyoko and Kuu's delight, they discovered that both had attended the same primary school and had even shared a teacher, even though the timing was decades apart.

"You know, Kuon came out to Kyoto with me once, when he was ten," Kuu nudged his son who just scowled at his father, but he did notice the girl's eyes narrow as she examined him again.

"Really?" She asked, a bit of frostiness creeping into her voice, "Did you enjoy it out there?" Kuon just shrugged and continued to eat.

"What did you do while you were there?" She persisted. Kuon swallowed and shrugged again. "Dad was busy, I mostly explored the forest." His green eyes met her golden ones and they widened marginally, Kuon saw the questions flickering there, then a sadness seemed to settle there and she glanced away.

"The forests out there are lovely, I use to play in them a lot as well. There was a stream I used to like to play by, the water was always so cold because it was fueled by a local spring." Kuon kept his face inexpressive, neutral, as her questioning eyes met his again, and he knew without a doubt that this girl was the same one he had met 8 years ago. However he could tell that she wasn't sure, she was trying to get him to confirm it, but he refused to give her that satisfaction. To Kuon's relief his mother over took the conversation and he didn't have to say anything else the remainder of the meal.

"That was wonderful," Kuu said patting his stomach as they made their way to the car. "I should hire her as a personal chef," Julie commented looking sidelong at her son, "Especially since it seems like she can get Kuon here to eat," She playfully nudged her son. Who simply gave her a blank look. Unlocking the car Kuu and Julie climbed in.

"Eh, can you guys wait a moment." Kuon asked stopping suddenly, "I forgot something inside." Curiosity overcame Kuon and he had to know if the girl and if she hurt her ankle as bad as he had thought. He quickly made his way back to the dining room and glanced inside. To his shock she was still there, but it almost looked like she had passed out. Moving quickly to the kitchen to hopefully tell someone, he discovered it empty. Moving to the ice machine he packed up a bag of ice and took it and put it on the girls ankle. It was definitely a little swollen.

"What am I doing? I don't care if she's hurt…." He mumbled as his hand stroked her hair back from her face. Standing he made his way from the room and found a waitress who he informed of Kyoko's condition and made his way back to his parents. How did she manage to sit in that position with a sore ankle for 4 hours without an expression of pain crossing her face. For the first time he thought something positive about his blast from the past and that thought was that she would make one hell of an actress.

"Did you find what you were looking for honey." Julie twisted in her seat to address her son as he stepped into the car.

"Eh," Kuon rubbed the back of his neck, "Kind of. The girl, Kyoko, I saw her twist her ankle before dinner started." His parents turned to look at him fully in shock. "When she sat for the tea ceremony I thought maybe she didn't hurt it that bad, because she seemed unaffected by it, but I found her passed out in the dining room."

"WHAT!" Kuu roared in shock, "and you didn't tell us, she shouldn't have been doing that if she was hurt. How irresponsible of you Kuon! You shouldn't have let her do that."

Kuon glared at his father, "I'm not the boss of her, I hardly know her, how was I to know she was really hurt that bad." Kuon met his father's eyes, "She. Didn't. Let. It. Show. It's not like either of you noticed either." Understanding dawned in his father's eyes, then respect.

"Interesting," Kuu looked at his wife with a smile, "Very interesting." Kuon glowered at the respect he saw in his father's expression then said under his breath as the man started driving them home. "Why don't you just adopt her then." He looked up and realized his mother heard his comment when he saw the pain lance across her face. Looking away he bit his lip and blinked back his emotions, he couldn't do any fucking thing right.

Monday came too quickly for Kuon's liking. He didn't want to admit that he was curious about Kyoko. How her ankle was doing and how she planned on presenting her character in class today. Not only did they have to create a character just based on their imagination but they also had to improv the scene. Tanner was a pretty good actress since she had experience modeling, and she was so strong-willed, he really couldn't imagine the timid little Kyoko overcoming her. Well at the very least it should be entertaining.

It wasn't until the end of lunch when he finally saw Kyoko. Courtney was next to him, yabbering on about something, she had taken to doing that lately. Talking to him. It was never part of their arrangement before, but he hasn't sought out Courtney's company since the incident when Kyoko walked in on them. He told her it was because he didn't feel like being interrupted again so she started attempting to make plans with him outside of school. It was fucking annoying. Kuon was eating if only to keep himself from having to respond to Courtney. It didn't do him any good to glare at her. He thought maybe that it turned her on because it never seemed to deter her. The first thing he noticed was the bright pink dress, and he only noticed it because Courtney pointed it out.

"What the hell color is that?" Unintentionally Kuon's eyes moved to the pink dress. He couldn't help but agree with Courtney's assessment at first, but then he noticed the legs peeking out from beneath the dress, which as a man he couldn't help but appreciate. His eyes trailed up her body noting her small waist and how V-Neck of the dress accentuated her small chest. His breath caught on her hair. It was black as night and fell in long soft waves just kissing the small the small of her back. It was when she turned in his direction that he finally saw her trademark golden eyes and understood what he was looking at. His breath caught. He had never seen her with her hair down, not even when they met as children. Now that he saw it he wanted nothing more than to run his fingers through it. She was beautiful. He really had never noticed before. He didn't realize that he had stopped eating mid-bite until he heard Courtney snort.

"She looks fucking ridiculous, that color is hideous, and that dress just makes her look like a slut." Kuon bit back a retort that he had seen her wear clothes similar to that, but that did turn his attention to the lustful stares that the girl was unconsciously garnering. He felt his aura darkening. He slipped again. He couldn't let that girl get to him, and what was she thinking. Dressing light that? Isn't she supposed to be the innocent type? Kuon stood abruptly cutting off whatever new nasty thing Courtney was saying about the girl and stalked off. The end of the day couldn't be here soon enough.

Unfortunately for Kuon, it seemed like his day was just getting started. That afternoon in Theater Arts he had to sit through some of the worst acting he had ever seen in his life. The students were all giggling the whole time, couldn't compose their faces, and the ones that could do that their characters had no depth. With each passing student on the stage, Kuon grew more and more annoyed, and bored. Finally when he thought he might just fall asleep, out walked Kyoko. He had blocked it from his mind that she would be performing today. He examined her in her dress, while the dress was really a shocking pink and it did her body credit. She didn't seem any different than normal. She was standing off to the side, smiling annoyingly at something her friend had said. Her back was ramrod straight and her hands were clasped in front of her. She looks like she should be wearing a fucking kimono, thought Kuon. I guess Saturday was a fluke, probably just years of practice, no real craft there. That thought made him feel a bit better. After he had told his parents about her and her ankle and he saw the interest in his father's expression he boiled with rage. How dare this girl who's never acted before, catch his attention. It made him want to… he didn't complete the thought because right then Mr. McGregor called out, "Action!"

Instantly Kyoko transformed, her posture relaxed and she cocked out her hip. Her normally warm eyes cooled to a sharp, piercing gaze. Then she started to move, her hips swaying slightly. _She looks like a runway model_ , Kuon realized. Then she started to talk to Tanner and the pieces clicked for him. She was imitating Courtney. The way she spoke, moved and bullied Tanner was all classic Courtney. It was filled with loathing for the girl in front of her. She never touched her, she would just lean in menacingly and threatened her scene partner. The only part that wasn't classic Courtney was the gaze. That sharp, cold gaze. It was when she snorted in derision at the girl's tears that he recognized it. _That's supposed to be me_ , _she combined Courtney and me and she made it work_. He could see it, see her becoming a huge success as an actress. She was a natural. He felt a momentary pang of some emotion then his rage came again. _How is she so good without even trying? How was she able to do that? Why is this nobody girl a rival for my own talents?_

By the end of IA Kuon was done. Just flat out done. If he had to listen to one more person compliment her on her performance today or tell her how good she looked he was going to break his vow of nonviolence and flat out punch them. He stormed out of the IA meeting as soon as he was able and slammed his way into a classroom. Seething with emotion that he couldn't control he paced back and forth, when an arm snaked out and grabbed his wrist. Whirling, fist raised he found Courtney. Sighing he lowered his hand.

"What the hell do you want."

She smirked at him and trailed her hands up his arms and down his flat stomach. "Do I really have to say?"

Angrily he pulled her toward him and kissed her hard. The girl moaned and opened her mouth to him. Receptive, she was always receptive. He moved his hands down her body and went to cup her breast when the memory of the last time he was in this situation swam into his head. He pulled back.

"What's wrong baby?" She moved her hands down further, trailing her finger along his slowly hardening length. Shaking the thoughts away he growled, "Nothing," and pulled her toward him again and resumed kissing her. Once again his thoughts stray to his childhood friend with a curse he pushed Courtney away.

"What the fuck is wrong with you Kuon? You've been," she gestures to him, "Off since…" she trails off and then her eyes widen and points an accusing finger at him, "Since _she_ got here." Kuon's eyes widened at the accusation.

"What? Are you in love with her or something?"

"Jesus Christ, Courtney. No, I am not in love with her. She pisses me the fuck off is what she does. Now you are pissing me off so get out." Kuon glared at his lover and pointed to the door.

"You know what?" She flipped her hair and turned. "I don't need this shit. Fuck off Kuon, and don't think you will be getting any of this, ever again." With that she sauntered out the room, her hips swaying more than normal. Kuon didn't even bother to admire the view. Angrily he paced the room cursing under his breath. Rearing back he swung his fist into the cinderblock wall.


	6. Chapter 5 - Kyoko

**Kyoko**

Kyoko stood in the stairwell, vibrating with happiness as she stared at her phone. She had a message from Sho-Chan. She wanted so bad to pick it up when it started vibrating during class, but she didn't want to get in trouble with her teachers, but she really needed something good to happen to her today. She had gotten some truly horrible grades on her tests in American History and Biology and she knew her mother would be extremely angry. She looked at the tests sitting next to her, the glaring 79% and 81% mocking her. _Sho-chan_ will make me feel better, she thought and then pressed the button to listen to the message her childhood friend and the love her life left her.

She was numb, the message that was meant to brighten her day, made it infinitely worse. He only wanted her to go to Tokyo with him to take care of him. To be his maid?! He found a sexy woman to do it instead? The tears welled in her eyes and started to fall in an unrelenting downpour on the concrete stairs. She couldn't breathe. _Why? Why her? Why do these things keep happening to her? She was so stupid, so so stupid_ , her inner monologue raged. Blindly she reached out her hand and her fingers found a small pouch that had fallen out of her bag. Pulling out her Corn stone, blindly, she began rocking forward and back and whispering to herself, "It's going to be OK, everything's going to be OK, over and over again."

She didn't know how long she was crying, but her normal montage really wasn't working, the tears just kept flowing, when she heard _him_.

"Jesus fucking Christ, you are STILL crying over bad fucking grades?" She whipped her head around at the sound of Kuon's voice. With that statement, she knew with certainty that this angry, mean boy was the same one who used to stop her tears and comforted her when she cried. She knew about his friend, his bullying, but she couldn't understand what caused him to be so horribly bitter. Even with his words, her tears continued to flow as she stared at him sadly.

"Oh, booo fucking hooo," he continued gesturing angrily at the test paper's on the ground next to her."My name's Kyoko and the worst thing in my world is that my mommy won't praise me if I don't get a 100%," he mocked in a falsetto voice.

"Boo fucking hoo. Nothing bad ever happens to me, I can just smile happily and get through all of my days because the only bad thing to ever happen to me is my mom doesn't like my grades." He continued in his falsetto, "wahhh wahhh wahhh. You're always smiling so god damned happily. Why don't you just go back to Japan, nobody fucking wants you here." Somewhere in the middle of his tirade, her tears had stopped and her anger reared up. He opened his mouth to say more when she cut him off.

"And you're so much better?" She pointed at him angrily. "You know NOTHING about my life! All you know is what child told you!" Her voice pitched louder.

"Do you know my mother has NEVER, not once in my ENTIRE life, told me she loves me?" She asked arching her brow at him and continued, "NEVER! Not once in my entire life!" Her tone grew colder and harsh, "Can you say the same? No! Because despite everything you went through, you at least you have parents who love you, who accept you flaws and all!" Her voice broke on the word accept. With these words, the incredulous look left Kuon's face and it was filled only with blank shock.

"Mine only accepts perfection. You know what I heard my WHOLE LIFE?" She pressed, "That there are no good grades or bad grades only 100%. So, excuse me, that I want any sort of affection that woman would bestow upon me! I'm sorry that I crave someone's affection. At least I don't take it for granted!" Kuon frowned at her and his eyes flashed.

"And for your information, I had to move halfway across the world, FOR APPEARANCES, not because I ACTUALLY want to. I had to give up the guy I love," for some reason, Kuon's scow became more pronounced with this statement than before, "to move HERE. AND," she dried up tears began to flow again, " just today I found out the guy I have devoted my life to, who I loved and would have given up EVERYTHING for, including going to High School, only ever thought of me as a servant." She wiped the tears angrily from her face, "So excuse me for keeping a smile on my face. Excuse me, for fighting for my happiness instead of giving up like you." She pointed at him again. "So you know what," she flicked him off and took off down the stairs. Leaving a broken heel and the bad test grades behind.

The next day Kyoko was lethargic from lack of sleep. She kept imagining how Kuon would come at her the next day. Part of her couldn't believe that she actually showed him such a rude gesture. Of course she had learned it from Sho-chan, but she didn't really think she would ever end up using it. She was ashamed and embarrassed by her behavior but she was also still very angry with Kuon. And sad. Bone crushingly sad. When she arrived at school the next day she was dreading seeing Kuon again, but she found a surprise at her locker. It was her broken heel that she had left after Courtney had pushed her down the stairs the other day, right before Kuon and her fought and her cell phone. A few days after the return of her belongings there was another thing left on her locker. It was her tests, but not just her tests. He had taken both tests, found the page number where the correct answer was on the textbook and then explained the answer, the best he could toward someone who was not a native speaker. To her surprise the responses helped her understand her classes just a bit better. They at least helped her study. While she knew that this was probably his form of apology, over the next few weeks she kept as much distance from Kuon as she could. A large part of her terrified that the demon lord would be coming for her again and she found herself repressing her smile, especially when they noticed each other. Try as she might she couldn't avoid him entirely, but she did notice a change in him. He seemed, quieter, less angry and almost, introspective. When he did happen to look at her, it wasn't with his usual glare. It was almost blank look, twinged with a sorrow. As time passed she found that she was having a harder and harder time smiling like normal. She tried to convince herself it was because of the move and the horrible things Sho-chan, no, she corrected herself Shotaro, said to her, but deep down she knew it was because of the loss of Corn. Not just the stone, but the memory of the boy who was her strength for so many years. She just couldn't seem to raise the corner of her lips into more than a cursory smile.

As the weeks passed she noticed something else about her former childhood friend. She wasn't sure what to make of it it, but he started becoming more active in drama class. He even went as far as starting to act out scenes with some of her classmates. He was good. Really, really good. Every time Kyoko watched him, she couldn't help but stare in awe. He was an incredible actor. He seemed to embody any character he was asked to play and was able to calculate his scene partner's reactions to his acting. It was incredible. She had a hard time imagining all the things she heard about him being repeatedly fired from roles.

After one scene she swore she saw hearts in the eyes of, not only the girl acting across from him but half the girls in the class. She really couldn't explain it but watching him manipulate her classmates made her so mad. It was like remote telekinesis. He was the master puppeteer and she didn't want to be bent to his whim. She was determined that when her time came to act across from him that she wouldn't be sucked in. She wouldn't be controlled and she wouldn't be manipulated. She would force him to acknowledge her as an actress. Suddenly it was what she wanted more than anything in her heart of hearts. Once she started really focusing on her theatrical arts class, it quickly became her favorite. She really enjoyed taking the opportunity to step out of herself and become someone else, live their lives, even for a little while. One of the stranger things that happened since "the incident" as she's come to call it is that, on occasion Kuon, though he wouldn't look her in the eye he would give her acting tips. Though part of her was she was loath to trust him, she took every piece of advice he gave her to heart. Who wouldn't, after seeing him act.

Things started to change one late afternoon a little over a month since the scene on the stairwell. The typical sunny California day was interrupted with the worst storm Kyoko had saw since moving out there. It was like the sky decided to open up and pour down upon her. She looked out upon the rain-soaked parking lot and signed. She dug through her bag and looked at the sky again. Of course, it was just her luck. Today was the day she forgot her umbrella. Sighing she closed her eyes and mentally prepared herself to get drenched on her walk home and mentally she cursed herself for not buying her bike. With a bike she could have made it there in less than half the time. She was just about ready to step out into the rain when she heard a honk. Startled she glanced around. There in a red mustang was Kuon. Honking and gesturing at her to join him. Not wanting to face the long walk in the downpour she decided to risk it and take him up on the offer, after all he did give her some help with her tests...and her acting.

"Do you have to go to work today?" He asked as she entered the car. Shaking her wet head he nodded once to indicate he understood and drove off school grounds. Heading into town there was a tense silence.

"You have to turn left here," she indicated by pointing her finger down the road that was upcoming.

"I was thinking we could talk for a bit. Since you don't have to work." Kuon said and kept driving. Kyoko just nodded her agreement again and fidgeted at the tense silence of the car. There wasn't even any music on to distract her from wondering what exactly was going on.

He drove to an isolated spot that overlooked the ocean. In awe she stared at the large mass of water. The deep blue waves crashing against the shore in the rain. She could just imagine an angry Poseidon, his wrath causing the violent storm and waves. She was also in awe of the people who were out on the water, gracefully riding out the storm on the backs of the cresting waves. Since moving to California Kyoko hasn't visited the ocean, she could imagine it being beautiful if the weather was different. It was a small movement to her left that brought her back to reality and what was going on and who she was there with. A tremor of fear wracked her body, quickly turning toward the driver she bowed and said "I'm sorry," in English at the same moment he said the same in Japanese. Freezing she then blinked up at him and she cocked her head to the side as she heard him chuckle. Why was he apologizing? She was the one who threw a rock at his head. Why was he laughing? Running his hand through his golden locks he looked at her.

"Listen, Kyoko-chan," She blinked up at him warily, "I'm really sorry, the things I said...shouting at you...it was horrible and I-I shouldn't have said any of that." He looked at her, his expression contrite and sad. "Spending time with you in Kyoto was pretty much my happiest memory from childhood and I had to become such a bitter asshole and ruin it." His expression became nervous, "Will you forgive me, maybe… if you want to…. Be my friend again?"

"But, I threw a rock at your head!" Was the only thought Kyoko could manage. She was expecting his wrath, not someone who bore a semblance to her former childhood friend.

"You have really good aim Kyoko-Chan, you hit me right in the common sense." He replied without a trace of bitterness in his voice. Kyoko narrowed her eyes at him. This made no sense to her.

"What happened to you?" She decided to ask since he wasn't getting angry at her, she felt emboldened. "I know your friend died, but why were you so horrible to me?" She couldn't keep her voice from breaking a bit as she looked at him. "For the longest time, I really only had your support to get me through things." Shame swamped Kuon's face, then as she continued the shame changed to shock. "I would like to be there for you too if you would let me." She bit her lip and reached out to tentatively touch his hand. She felt him stiffen slightly under her touch

"I… I just.." Frustrated he tore his hand through his hair, unable to meet her eyes. "It all just seems so stupid now, you know? After hearing about your problems, my problems just seem so… juvenile." The last word came out laced with heavy shame.

"You can't help your feelings, Kuon" She scolded, sounding a bit like his mom and he couldn't help the snort of derision that he expelled.

"You want to know my feelings?" Finally, he looked at her again. "I feel like I have no right to be happy. It's my fault that Rick died. I killed him. I took away his and Tina's happiness, so what right do I have to be happy at all?"

Kuon jolted in surprise as her hand firmly connected with his face with a resounding thwack.

"You slapped me?!" He gazed at her in wide-eyed shock.

"Yes, yes I did, and you did not kill him." She said angrily.

"But…"

"NO buts," She yelled. "You didn't push him in front of that car. You didn't force him to go that night. Rick made his decisions because he loved you, but they were his decisions to make. Not yours. If he didn't do what he did, you would probably be in jail."

"I would rather be in jail then him be dead." He frowned and she squeezed his hand again.

"I know, but that doesn't change the fact that he made his own choices that night. What would Rick want you to be doing right now? Wallowing in the fact that he is dead? Or living your life?" She asked with an arched brow. He furrowed his brows and thought for a few minutes, chewing on his lip and tapping his fingers against the center console of the car.

"He," he began, then stopped and looked at her again. "He would want me to be strong, to fight for what I want." His eyes filled with resolve as he spoke the words his heart knew to be true. "You were right, I gave up. I quit fighting because my fighting is what got Rick killed. Ugggh," he exclaimed slamming his hand on the steering wheel, "How do I fight, but not fight? I feel like I am stuck in a maze and I can't get out."

She looked at him, a light of determination filling her eyes, "Not all fighting is with your fists Kuon."

"How do you do that?" He had the look of a hopeful puppy and she blushed a bit at it.

"It's really not that hard Kuon. When you see something you want. You go for it, if you don't get it then. You figure out another way to accomplish your goal. You don't back down. You keep trying and striving and when you hit a wall, you find a way to break it down.

After that Kuon drove her home and they chatted about other things. Kuon parked the car in the parking lot to the apartment that they were renting.

"Is your mom home?"

Kyoko glanced around the parking lot and shook her head in the negative. "No, not yet, she is working on a big case so she hasn't been around a lot lately. I'm not sure why, but she refuses to work on anything work-related at the house, so she practically lives at the office."

Kuon frowned, "That must be lonely."

Shrugging Kyoko pulled her bag up and put it on a shoulder, her hand resting on the door handle, "I'm used to it."

"Did you get in a lot of trouble? For the test scores."

Blushing she shook her head, "She didn't even ask, so I guess she doesn't care, as long as I'm not causing trouble at school, but I would really like to get those scores up." She smiled brightly at him, "Oh, thank you for that by the way, your notes really helped me understand." Kuon blushed slightly under the praise and Kyoko smiled for what felt like the first time in days, he looks like an embarrassed young girl.

"Well, why not on days you don't work of course, come over to my place and I can tutor you." Kuon blurted out, he seemed just as surprised at his offer as she was at receiving it. A blush filled her cheeks and she looked away from her companion, "I… I can't do that, I wouldn't want to burden you or your parents like that."

She felt his hand brush her tinged cheek and then ruffled her hair. Startled she met his eyes and was frozen by the soft smile on his face. "It would be no burden, and my parents couldn't stop raving about you after the tea ceremony. I actually think they might try to adopt you." He smirked a bit but Kyoko saw a bit of pain in his eyes. Smiling softly she nodded at him, "I would appreciate your help very much." Kuon must have thought she would reject his offer and he smiled broadly at her, "Awesome, do you work tomorrow?" Kyoko shook her head in the negative.

"Great, then we will start tomorrow." Nodding again she opened the door and stepped out of the car to go into her apartment. Before she closed the door behind her she ducked down and looked at her friend.

"You should do that more often you know." Kuon just arched his brow at her in a silent question.

"Smile." Blushing again she closed the car door and bolted into the building before Kuon could say anything else.


	7. Chapter 6 - Kuon

**Kuon**

Kuon couldn't get the smile off his face as he drove home from Kyoko's apartment. Since that afternoon on the stairs when she dressed him down he felt a shift in himself. What she faced on a daily basis. He couldn't fathom it. He had even asked his dad about it. If it was possible for parents to hate their kids. Of course, his father adamantly denied it and went on to extol the virtues of having children. It was the concern on his father's face when he asked him if he thought that he and his mother, Julie, hated him that punched him in the gut. When he explained the fight to his father and what he knew of Kyoko's relationship with her mother from their time in Kyoto, his father was about ready to go over to Kyoko's house and give her mother a piece of his mind. As it was, it was the first time since prior to Rick's death that Kuon really sat down and came to his father with his problems. Reflecting on it now, after his conversation with Kyoko he realized that he avoided telling his parents about what was going on because he didn't want to "burden" them, to use her words. As he made his way home, he vowed that he wouldn't do that again, he would go to them, because they are his parents, and they love him.

When he walked into his house, a large smile on his face and swept his mother up into a bone crushing hug, he couldn't help but laugh.

"Do you think he's been abducted by aliens?" His father said side long to his mother as he heartily ate his dinner. Kuon snorted into his Chili. "I'm more worried about drugs," his mother said with a serious frown. "Please Kuon, will you tell us what you are on?" She reached out her hand and squeezed his, loving concern etching every feature of her face. Kuon frowned at that.

"Wait, I can't just be happy?" He pulled his hand away angrily.

"It's just so out of character honey, try to see it from our perspective…" his mother said with unshed tears in her eyes. It was the tears that halted his anger and he blew out a deep breath between his lips. He looked at his mother, a remorseful expression on his face.

"I'm sorry mother. I am not on any drugs, I promise. I...I just had a really good day." A knowing expression crossed his father's face.

"Did you make up with Kyoko?" Kuon grimaced and nodded. "We had a good talk, she made me realize some things. I wanted to say I'm sorry. I'm sorry I cut you and mom out. I realize now that if I would have come to you with my problems things might have been different."

"Kuon, honey…" his mother began but he held up his hand and continued talking.

"I also realize that I can't change the past and I have to keep moving forward and that despite how things turned out, Rick would have wanted me to be happy and to fight for that happiness. While I am still not sure how I am going to accomplish that, I plan on trying my hardest." He said with resolve.

"Oh Kuon," His mother threw herself into his arms, spilling Chili everywhere, and to his surprise, his father didn't mourn the loss of the food, because he was right behind his mother. "I love you guys," he mumbled into his mother's hair, she responded by crying harder and clutching him tighter to her.

That night Kuon laid in his bed. On arm propped under his head. The other resting on his stomach. Kyoko's words from earlier, coming back to him. More than anything, what did he want? To his surprise, the first thing that popped into his head was a picture of the golden-eyed girl he spent his afternoon with. With a blush he pushed that thought aside, unsure of what it meant. Then he looked at the posters on his walls, smacking himself on the forehead he questions why he didn't realize it before. He wanted to act. More than anything he wanted to be recognized as being as good as his father. The next problem was, how to go about that. How to achieve what he wanted. He had been out of the acting game for so long he couldn't just start going to auditions again. He was out of practice. Turning his head he saw his stack of textbooks and groaned, realizing he didn't complete any of his homework today when his eyes fell on Mr. McGregor's flyer calling for auditions to the school play. Sitting up he grinned as he read it. He decided to do a modern-day retelling of the story Cyrano De Bergerac. This was his first step. He decided. To achieve his happiness he was going to audition for this play, and he was going to be cast as the role of Cyrano.

The next morning he lounged against Kyoko's locker as he waited for her to arrive. He wanted to go and pick her up, but he didn't have her phone number and he wasn't sure what time she woke up to go to school. Her walking everywhere was something he planned to remedy as much as he could by being her ride. He was playing a game on his phone when he noticed her standing there frozen, staring at him, out of the corner of his eye. Putting his phone in his pocket he grinned at her and she moved toward him warily. He could understand her hesitance, he hasn't exactly been the nicest to her, especially at school.

"Morning," he greeted as she approached him.

"Morning…" she replied cautiously.

Smiling at her he ruffled her hair. He smirked a bit when she froze and blushed at his touch. "I thought you might want to know that I've decided what I am going to do," then he dropped his voice and said in a suggestive tone, "and I think you should _do it with me_." He had to hold in his laughter as her whole body blushed. She was too much fun. "Wh...what is th...that" she stuttered.

Nonchalantly he pulled out the flyer for the school play. "I think we should audition for the School play. You would be an excellent Roxanne. Kuon had to hold in his laughter some more as her whole body relaxed after what he said then just to mess with her more he leaned in again, "What did _you_ think I meant?" At that Kyoko blushed again and Kuon finally couldn't restrain his laughter. Kyoko must have also noticed the stares they were getting and, he wasn't sure it was possible but the girl turned a deeper shade of red.

"Will you cut it out?!" She tugged on his sleeve and he decided to spare her and regained his control.

"Ok, ok," he said holding up his hands in surrender and then he smiled at her. "So, will you audition with me?" The girl before him just nodded in a daze.

"What happened to you?" She blurted out, as if she couldn't restrain the question. Sobering a bit Kuon looked deeply into her eyes.

"I have decided that I need to move forward and learn to fight for my happiness. Regaining my love for acting, I think is the first step. I also," he started fidgeting a bit and then he looked at her in earnest, "I want my friend back." Nervously he held out the blue stone he had once given her. "Friends?" The smile that lit her face took his breath away and he couldn't help but move closer to her as he pressed the small stone into her hands. The first bell jolted him back to reality. "We still meeting up after school for studying right?" It was like Kyoko couldn't speak, she just nodded, her thumb running across the blue stone.

"Great! See you later Kyoko-chan" he said and ran off to get to his locker and first period, he was resolved to get her phone number today during their study session. As he turned he noticed a pair of angry blue eyes turned in their direction. He met Courtney's glare head on, when her eyes shifted and turned calculating to the dark-haired girl he was just conversing with his whole body felt tense. This might be a problem, he thought as he made his way to class.

Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate Courtney was in his first-period class and he made sure he was ready to confront her after class.

"Court, wait up," he called as she started moving out the door. With a sexy smirk, she turned toward him. When he got close to her, she stepped into his personal space, pressing her body against his. Kuon had to repress a shudder of repulsion. He found it curious, how the girl who turned him on just a few weeks ago could ignite his lust like nothing before, now caused him to feel dirty. Taking a small step backward he held out the small gift he got for her. It wasn't anything special, just a little bracelet.

"I'm really sorry about the other day," he said as he pressed the gift into her hand. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously as she took the box from him. Inside was a small tennis bracelet. Courtney's breath caught and her eyes widened as she took in the bracelet. _Maybe I shouldn't have got her such an expensive gift_ he thought for the first time.

"Kuon…" she breathed and she moved again into his space, making as if to kiss him. Stepping back again he raised his hand. Hurt filled her face.

"Courtney, you were right, we're done. I just wanted to apologize to you." he gestured at the bracelet.

"I should have treated you better while we were… together."

Courtney glanced at him, "If you want more…" she started, and Kuon shook his head.

"No, I'm not ready for anything like that, but I will tell you-you better leave Kyoko alone." Courtney's face hardened at this. "She means a lot to me, she's probably the best friend I have. I would _hate_ for anything bad to happen to her." Kuon gave Courtney a meaningful look before he turned and to go to his next class period. As he turned his back on her, he totally missed the look of utter rage that crossed her face. The look that promised retribution against the person she blamed for the loss of her lover.

After school, Kuon met Kyoko at her locker. He could see the surprise etched across her face. He grinned as she approached, "What?" he asked at her shocked expression.

"I guess I didn't think you would want anyone to know that you are tutoring me," she blushed cutely as she turned the dial, avoiding meeting his eye.

Tugging on a lock of her eye he asked in Japanese, "Why would I care if anyone knew I had such a cute Kohai?"

Kuon felt a sense of self-satisfaction as her blush deepened. Smirking a bit she turned toward him and asked in Japanese with a quirked eyebrow, "So should I call you Kuon-sempai then?" Something inside him rebelled at the idea of being her sempai. Leaning closer to her he whispered, "Why don't you just call me Corn like you used to."

Biting her lip she peeked up at him. He couldn't help but lick his lips at the sight of her lip tucked between her teeth.

"You wouldn't mind?" she asked almost shyly like she was expecting to be rejected. His smile softened, "Of course, but only if I can call you Kyoko… without an honorific." A puzzled expression crossed her face, "Why wouldn't you call me without an honorific, everyone here calls me just Kyoko…"

"Well, because you told me once only your future husband, Sho-chan, and your mother could call you without an honorific." Kyoko shuddered.

"What a horrifying thought," she said smiling at him, "Of course you can call me without honorific Corn." With that, she shut her locker and he ushered her out the door to his car and their studying session.

Kuon was explaining about the Krebs cycle to Kyoko when he heard his father shout his name in greeting. Kuon responded and minutes later his father, Kuu Hizuri, joined them in the kitchen where he was tutoring Kyoko. With an almost palpable nervousness, the girl shot out of her seat at the sight of his father and bowed low and greeted him in Japanese. Kuu just looked from his son to the girl for a moment and then a slow smile crept across his face as he addressed the girl in English. "Ahhh Kyoko, such a pleasure to see you again. What are you doing out here." He looked at his son.

"Ah Kuon, was helping me with my biology class if it's a problem I can take my leave.." Kuu laughed at the girl, who was still bowing to him. "No, no, no, you study," with that Kuu left the two teenagers to their studying.

It was a few hours later when he returned to the kitchen and addressed his son with a whine, "Kuuuuooooonnnnn I'm sssstttaaarrrvvviinnggg. Are you two almost done?" Kuon laughed at his father's antics.

"Yes, we are done," he had just finished convincing Kyoko to give him her schedule and cell phone number so that he could be on time to give her rides in the morning. Kuon laughed and Kyoko looked between the men questioningly.

"If you want, I can help prepare something." She offered.

"You don't have to.." and "That would be excellent," greeted her ears. Kuon glared at his father for suggesting Kyoko cook for them. "I would love some authentic Kyoto cooking, Kyoko, if you don't mind. I'll even help!" Kyoko eyed him warily when Kuon leaned in and whispered in her ear, pretending not to notice her shudder, "He's actually a good cook, it's mom you have to watch out for, and myself."

Kuon sat at the large center island and watched Kyoko and his father prepare dinner together. They chatted about school and growing up in Kyoto. Kuon learned that shortly after he and his father returned from their trip to Kyoto that Kyoko's mother pretty much let the Fuwa's adopt her until the day she forced her to move to America with her, she hadn't even seen or heard from her. It made his insides boil to hear him talk about her relationship with her mother like it was normal and not a big deal. He could tell from the tightening of his father's jaw that he felt the same way, and if he had the opportunity he would have some strong words for Kyoko's mother.

To Kuon's amusement, her father and Kyoko had agreed to make hamburger steak and eggs and it brought back happy memories of Kyoko bowing to the large stone and addressing it as the King of the Hamburger Rocks. Kuon started shaking with silent laughter at the memory.

"What's so funny boy." When Kuon's eyes met Kyoko's he started laughing harder. Kuon missed the glare he received from Kyoko and he snorted out "Your Highness" with a mock bow at his plate. Finally understanding his mirth Kyoko's bell-like laughter joined in with his while his father just sat and watched in stunned silence. Kuon thought he heard his father say something along the lines of, "Your mother is never going to believe this." Sobering at his father's whispered words he wiped the tears from his eye and grinned at his friend who also was beginning to calm down. The smile she returned to him made his heart stutter.

"So, what's that all about," Kuu asked the two youngsters, gesturing between them with his fork as he started into his third hamburger steak.

"Well, you remember when we went to Kyoto when I was 10?" Kuu nodded.

"I met Kyoko while we were there." His father choked a bit on his food at that statement and his eyes bugged out a bit.

"Seriously?" The older man choked out as he looked at the pair, it was Kuon's turn to nod.

"Yes," Kyoko chimed in, "Corn was a very good friend to me, he helped me quite a bit. I was kind of a crybaby back then."

"Corn? You know that's not his name right?"

"I realize that now, he probably introduced himself correctly but I misheard and called him Corn. He was my Fairy Prince." At her confession, Kuon felt himself blush bright red and he saw his father's sly grin creep back on his face. He didn't think Kyoko noticed, she seemed to have entered some sort of La La Land.

With twinkling eyes, Kuu raised an eyebrow and muttered to his son, "Fairy Prince?" Kuon kicked him in the leg under the table. Kuu snickered at the red tinge on his son's cheeks.

"Kuon, hold up a sec," Kuu called to him as he was heading out the door to take Kyoko

home. Pausing the pair turned back toward his father. Looking down at the girl Kuu gave her a look that Kuon recognized as his parental lecture look. Kyoko was about to get a talking too from his father. "Dad…" Kuon started but at his father's glare, he stopped talking.

"Young lady," Kuu looked down at Kyoko who had shrunk unconsciously back against Kuon. He had an urge to put a protective arm around her but shrugged it off. "I must say that I am very upset with your irresponsible behavior the day we first met." Kyoko looked at him with large eyes. "You, my girl, have the potential to be an amazing actress. I will admit I am impressed that none of us noticed how much pain you must have been in sitting seiza for so long, but as an actress, you must be more responsible with your body. You don't do anyone any good if you can't perform your duties because you broke your foot being stubborn about one scene." Kyoko's eyes were brimming with tears as she bowed.

"I'm so sorry, I won't do such an irresponsible thing again." Kuu ruffled her hair and as he smiled down at her said, "It's alright, as long as you understand. Now get home before your mother worries." Kuu failed to notice how Kyoko stiffened but, Kuon didn't and he squeezed her hand and pulled her out the door. As they made their way back towards Kyoko's house she asked him in a timid voice, "Does he really think I would make a good actress?" Kuon couldn't help but grin as he turned down her road, "Actually he sad amazing, and he's not the only one who thinks that."

Kuon had to hold in his mirth as he took in Kyoko's shocked and bewildered expression the next morning when she came rushing out of her door to see his car waiting for her. Cautiously she made her way to his car and at his gesture, climbed in.

"Good morning, Kyoko" he smiled at her.

"Good morning," she returned his smile tentatively, "What are you doing here? Did I forget something yesterday?"

"Naw, I don't like the idea of you walking all that way to school."

"You don't have to worry about that. It's no problem. I really don't mind walking." She attempted to reassure him.

"What kind of friend knowingly lets their friend walk miles to school when they have a car and can easily pick them up?" He reasoned back

"But…"

"No buts, Kyoko, from now on I am your ride. Do you understand me?" He said in a no-nonsense tone. Kyoko simply nodded.

"Have you ever told Tanner and Kindle about your predicament?" Once again she only responded by shaking her head. Kuon released a heavy sigh. "Kyoko, tell them, please. Just in case I can't be there. Friends help each other, I am sure they won't mind helping if they knew."

"Ok, ok," finally she verbally agreed, "I will talk to them today."

"Good."


	8. Chapter 7 - Kyoko

**Kyoko**

Kyoko almost couldn't believe the change she saw in Kuon after one conversation. Suddenly he was smiling more, and genuinely happy. The first morning when he dropped her off at school she was ambushed by Kindle and Tanner demanding to know what was going on. The barrage of questions about if they were dating left Kyoko's mind reeling. Why would Kuon want to date someone like her? Finally she explained to them about how they had met in Kyoto years ago. She skimmed over their argument and told them that the two had decided to try to be friends again. Kindle and Tanner shared a look. Kindle patted her clueless friend on the top of her head. Kyoko watched the pair who headed on to class without another word. If you asked her classmates that were standing around her at the time, they could have sworn they saw question marks popping up over Kyoko's head. Burrowing back in her locker Kyoko's mind got stuck on her girl friend's accusation that they were dating. As she closed her polished wood locker door she mumbled "there's no way that someone like him would be interested in someone like her anyway." Unfortunately for Kyoko Courtney happened to pass by and hear her. The older girl laughed wickedly.

"At least you realize it, that it would never happen between you and Kuon." She flicked her hair and leaned in close to Kyoko. "He's a prince while you're a peasant, and he deserves a queen." She dangled the bracelet Kuon had given her in front of Kyoko's face.

"Oh it's so pretty!" Kyoko couldn't help the exclamation poured out of her mouth and the genuine awe of the gift Courtney was shamelessly flaunting. Confused Courtney blinked then looked down her nose at Kyoko. "Kuon is mine, so learn your place and back off now." Kyoko tilted her head.

"Oh, we don't have that kind of relationship. You don't need to worry. We are only friends." She attempted to reassure her.

"I want you to stay away from him. Don't look at him, don't talk to him, and if I see you get in his car again or out of his car again. You. Will. Regret. It." Courtney leaned further in meaningly.

Kyoko frowned up at her. "I'm sorry, but Kuon is my friend and I refuse to abandon him. He needs all the support he can get. Also, I tried to tell him the rides aren't necessary. Since you are his girlfriend, maybe you can convince him to stop giving them to me?" Something in her words caused Courtney to blanch. She looked like she was going to say something else when the bell rang.

"Oh, I'm sorry to be rude, but I need to get to class. Have a good day." Kyoko waved and smiled cheerily as she walked away.

The next few weeks fell into a steady pattern of Kuon picking her up every morning and taking her back to his house to study, or driving her to work. Kyoko strongly suspected that he would stay at the restaurant just to give her a ride if she didn't assure him that she regularly received rides from Uneo-san or Amy. She was also getting an increase in harassment from Courtney. At first it started out small, rude comments here or there. Then somehow Courtney got her phone number. Her phone dinged with a regular barrage of harassment from the blond girl. It didn't really bother her, most of it was things she heard before. How ugly she is, how stupid she was, how no one would ever love her...not that Kyoko could really argue with that one. She just hated having to keep her phone on silent all the time. She felt like she might miss something important that way.

She was sitting at Kuon's dining room table studying American history when her phone vibrated. Since she was expecting a text from Tanner about a shopping trip this weekend she decided to look. Seeing the usual insult from the usual person she rolled her eyes and set her phone down. Glancing at her friend, his blond head bent over his script, she decided that maybe if Kuon spent less time with her, then maybe his girlfriend would leave her alone a bit more.

"Kuon," her friend looked up at her with vacant eyes, his mind clearly still on his script and character. He replied with a, "Hum?" Kyoko felt a bit bad for breaking his concentration, but she really felt that this needed to be said.

"I think you need to spend more time with your girlfriend."

Kuon snapped straight up his body rigid, his expression betraying his confusion and anger. "What are you talking about?"

Shrinking a bit at the anger radiating off of him she mumbled, "That girl… Courtney… you should probably spend more time with her…" she trailed off as her friend's expression darkened as she spoke.

"Kyoko, let me tell you in no uncertain terms, that girl," he spit the world girl out like it was a dirty word, "is NOT my girlfriend." Confused Kyoko straightened up.

"Then why did you buy her the bracelet?"

"Bracelet? How do you know…" Kuon's voice trailed off. "It was an apology, but it doesn't mean we're dating." He tried to explain.

It was his look of utter confusion and sincerity that convinced Kyoko that Courtney was lying about being Kuon's girlfriend. Kyoko rolled her eyes. "I thought you were a playboy," she punched his arm, "Don't you know when you give girls expensive gifts they might get the wrong idea?"

"Well…" he started then shrugged.

"For example," Kyoko cut him off and straightened to her formal sitting style. Spine erect. "If one day I told you that I hated you, then the next day I brought you a bento, wouldn't you get the wrong impression?"

Kuon smirked, "The impression that you are trying to kill me?"

Kyoko glared at him and tried to think of a better example, "Fine, then if I said I hated you one day then kissed you the next," Kyoko blushed as she said the word, 'kissed', "What would you think?" She couldn't even bring her eyes to meet his as she talked about kissing. Kuon was silent for a long time, when Kyoko finally risked a peek at him, he seemed frozen.

"Corn?" When he met her eyes she thought she saw a slight blush on his cheeks, but that could have just been a trick of the light. He smiled gently at her, "I understand. I won't buy expensive presents for anyone but my girlfriend in the future." Kyoko smiled at him, "As long as you understand," Then went back to her studying, never realizing the implication of her words.

Saturday came around, and with it brought a shopping trip with her best friends. While she didn't buy anything she loved window shopping and voicing her opinion on how magnificent her friends looked when they tried on different outfits.

"Why don't you ever buy anything when we go out," Tanner grumbled, "I want to dress you up like a doll, you look good in almost everything." Kyoko blushed and jammed a french fry into her mouth. "I'm saving money."

Kindle raised her eyebrow, "You attend one of the most expensive schools in the area, you work all the time, why do you NEED to save money."

Her blush deepened, she didn't really want to trouble her girlfriends with her issues with her mother, but she didn't want to lie either.

"I want to go back to Japan…" At their shocked expressions, she rushed to relieve them, "Not now, when I graduate… so I need to save money." She shrugged and jabbed another fry into her mouth.

"If you just want to go back to visit why save for two year? You should be able to save enough in a year at least... " Kindle did the math in her head

Kyoko shook her head, "I want to move back to Japan when I graduate," Kyoko attempted to clarify.

Confused Tanner asked, "To do what?"

"To be an actress of course," Kyoko and her girlfriends jumped at the voice. Pivoting they took in Kuu Hizuri and his son who looked a bit sad and green. Kyoko stuttered, "Act...waha… Hizuri-san…" Kindle and Tanner just stared wide-eyed at the famous actor. Of course, they knew Kuon was his son, but they never met the man in person.

"You know," Kuu said and pulled a chair and sat with the group, his son following suit. "You should come with Kuon and I to Japan this winter break, I can introduce you to my friend. He heads a talent agency over there, I'm sure he would be interested in your ability." He followed this simple statement up by ordering everything on the menu.

"Hizuri-san.." Kyoko began when she was cut off.

"Kuu" Kuu told her gently

"Kuu-san.. I don't know that I want to be an actress…" her voice indicating her fear of his disapproval.

"Fine, you can come and keep Kuon company and cook me delicious food, it's all on me of course." He smiled at the wide-eyed waiter who practically sprinted back to the kitchen with the man's order.

Kyoko tried to catch Corn's eye but he just gave her a small smile and looked away. Kyoko stuttered, "I think maybe you and Co..Kuon," she corrected herself from calling him Corn in front of her friends, that was his name but only in private, "would want to do this just the two of you."

At this Kuon seemed to jump a bit, like he was shocked and he finally looked at her fully and addressed her in Japanese, "No, no Kyoko-chan, I would love it if you would come with us. We're going to Kyoto and you can show me around properly this time, we can visit our old spot. Please don't make me suffer my idiot father alone." The boy practically pleaded. Kuu snorted at his son's diatribe but Kyoko paused, unaware of her friend's confused stares. She could see the sincerity radiating from her friend. He truly wanted her at his side when they went to Japan.

Kyoko smiled and bowed at Kuu, "If it is OK with my mother, then I would love to join you," she addressed the man in English. Her friend's looked at eachother again, seeming to speak with their eyes to each other as the odd group continued their meal, Kuon only eating the occasional fry from Kyoko's plate.

"Well Kids," Kuu addressed the group as he stood up and handed the waiter his credit card to cover their bill, "I have to get back to the salt mines, I'm sure you don't mind Kuon joining you for the rest of the day. " Kyoko cast a worried gaze at her friend, but he didn't seem to mind his father abandoning them. She made a note to ask him about it later.

Kuon was surprisingly good at dealing with women and shopping. He confided in Kyoko it was because his mother would often bring him. He seemed to know instinctively what would look good on the girls and what wouldn't. More than once he tried to convince Kyoko to try on different things, but she always refused. When he offered to buy them she would just glare at him and would back down.

"I'm sorry you got roped into this." Kyoko told Kuon as the two of them trailed behind Kindle and Tanner a bit later that day.

Kuon shrugged, "It's not that bad, I'm use to it."

"I ment with Japan too.. " Kyoko blushed and looked down. Kuon nudged her shoulder, "I'm actually happy you are coming, dad will be really busy and it will be good to have a friend."

Kyoko smiled then glanced to her left. Her footsteps stuttered and she walked up to the glass window entranced. Her girlfriends getting far ahead, the only one who noticed her rapture was Kuon. The display window for the shop showing off a corset dress with crystal beads and a flowing A-line skirt.

"What is it?" Kuon asked her confused at her sudden stop, "you like that prom dress?"

"Prom?" Kyoko questioned in a breathless voice, her eyes never leaving the flowing blue and silver dress.

"Yeah, Prom...you don't know what prom is?

"No, we don't have it in Japan."

"Prom's, well.. Prom's a dance, for Junior and Seniors in high school." He started and she looked up at him, "They can invite freshman and sophomores if they like, but it's mostly just upperclassmen. It's a dance, they play music and it's mostly just an excuse for people to get laid." He told her, almost absently. "Laid?" Kyoko questioned. Kyoko couldn't help but notice the deep blush that dusted her friend's cheeks. "Urm.. it means they have sex…" Kyoko blushed furiously.

"If… if they are just going to do that… why dress like princesses?" She couldn't help but muse out loud.

Kuon rubbed the back of his neck and shrugged again. "Have you ever been?" Kyoko asked him. Her friend shook his head "Naw, always thought they were kinda lame. Hey," he said breaking her fairy tale induced trance of dancing princesses, "Your friends just turned into the store about a block up, we should hurry and catch up with them," and started to walk away from the shop.

Kyoko cast a quick wistful glance back at the dress then hurried to catch up to her friends.


	9. Chapter 8 - Kuon

**Kuon**

Kuon wasn't sure what was going on with him, but the only girl he even really wanted to talk to anymore was Kyoko. He reasoned that was because she knew the darkest parts of him, and didn't judge him and around her he was free to be himself, completely and that meant the world to him. Yet the text he recieve this morning from Kyoko about her friends driving her to school this morning drove him to distraction. Was she sick of him already? Did he do something to upset her? Their time together in the mornings ment the world to him. He was loath to lose even one day. But what could he do?

The steadily falling rain matched Kuon's mood as he parked and made his way in side, he didn't bother to cover himself as he walked up the imposing steps into the building. Automatically his eyes darted over to Kyoko's locker where she stood smiling at a tall dark haired boy that Kuon vaguely recognized as a member of the football team. Anger started to fill him. Is this why she didn't want him to drive her? She wanted to meet up with this guy? Was he her boyfriend? He didn't even realize he was making his way over to her till he could actually start hearing their conversation.

"So I was wondering," The dark haired guy started, "if you would go to the Winter Formal with me." Kuon froze. He was asking her out? Pain pierced his chest and his anger mounted. Why did this bother him so much? From Kuon's vantage point he had the perfect view of Kyoko's face.

For a moment her eyes sparkled and she smiled widely, then she shook her head no and addressed the football player and bowed slightly. "I'm sorry, but I can't. Thank you for inviting me though."

"Aw come on honey," the big guy leered and leaned closer to the girl. "You don't have to pretend to be hard to get." Pure rage filled Kuon at that moment. He hadn't felt anger this intense since Rick and that right there froze him in place and allowed the dark haired man to keep his pretty face. He hardly noted Kyoko's confused expression.

"I'm not sure what you mean, but I'm not pretending anything. I am actually leaving for Japan that evening for winter break."

"Well, then maybe we can do something when you get back?" It must have been right around then that Kyoko noticed Kuon, because she didn't reply to the asshat who was asking her out, but instead came and put her hand on his arm, drawing his attention to her.

"Kuon, are you ok?" Her big gold eyes filled with concern looked up at him and an intense and unfamiliar longing filled him.

"Hey, don't walk away from me," the football player grabbed her arm and twisted her toward him. Kuon snapped and knocked her arm out of the other man's hands and placed himself between them. "You don't want to do that," Kuon growled.

"What's it to you Hizuri, this has nothing to do with you." At Kuon's murderous glare the guy gulped and stepped back. Kuon stepped closer, meaning to show this douche what it has to do with him, but he felt a small hand on his arm and he glanced down again. Her eyes pleading him silently not to fight. Her hand moved down and grabbed his and she started to pull him away. He was powerless to stop this tiny force of nature.

"Oh I see," the big man called after them, "You're whipped," and he started to laugh. Kuon's whole body tensed and he went to turn back around, but Kyoko tightened her grip and pulled him further away.

"What was that Kuon?" She asked when they were finally alone and away from her suitor. Shrugging sullenly Kuon looked away.

"Look at me now Hizuri Kuon," she demanded in Japanese and his eyes flew to ward hers in shock at her stern tone, even his parents didn't talk to him like that. Sighing and letting some of his anger deflate, he asked the one question that was burning his mind the most.

"Did you want to go to the formal with that guy?" His tone was harsh and demanding. Kyoko cocked her head for a moment.

"Yes," Kuon's heart stopped, "I wanted to go to the winter formal, but not really with him. I mean, I don't even know who he is." At this Kuon's anger popped like a bubble. Sighing he racked his fingers through his still soaked hair.

"I'm sorry you are going to miss it, I mean if you really want to go I can talk to dad…"

"NO!" Kyoko shouted and his eyes flew to her's again. "But…" he began. "I don't want to inconvenience your father like that. Plus he has everything all planned out. It would be selfish to ask to change the dates." She finished.

I can always...his thought started

"Don't you dare go and think about asking your dad to change the dates behind my back either. I won't forgive you. I am more excited to go to Japan then to a school dance anyway." At this Kuon finally smiled a blinding smile.

"You know Kuon, when your hair gets wet, it gets really dark." Kyoko giggled, distracting him again. "You can almost pass for a full blown Japanese person with the dark hair, but your eyes give it away. Well, your eye's and your height."

Kuon laughed. "Maybe we can play a prank and dye my hair black and get some contacts while we are in Japan and see how many people I can convince I am Japanese."Kyoko smiled and poked his chest, "As long as they don't ask you to read Kanji you might actually succeed."

Kuon clutched his heart, pretending to be wounded. "How dare you, bring up my one weakness." At his antics Kyoko finally let out a full blown laugh.

"You know," Kuon began, suddenly a bit nervous, "If you want, If you bring something nice, we can maybe do a night on the town one night while we are in Tokyo."

Kyoko's eyes brightened. "Really? That sounds like a lot of fun!" Before Kuon could say anything further the bell began to toll and Kyoko jumped and started to speed off to her first hour class, shouting apologies as she left. Kuon smiled to himself and shook off the notion that he just asked his best friend on a date. He just hated that she had to miss her first school dance opportunity, he reasoned with himself, I wanted to make it up to her. Feeling slightly convinced of his logic, he finally moved toward his first hour class as well.

The president of LME hadn't really changed since he last came to Tokyo. The man was currently dressed as a matador with what Kuon suspected to be real diamonds lining the fillagree of his costume. Yes, Kuon was used to it, but his friend was not. Since they arrived at the president's office Kyoko was staring at the man, her mouth slightly agape and it was all Kuon could do to not break out laughing.

"Kuu, Kyoko-chan, can you please give me a moment with Kuon." Lory took a puff of his cigar. "Sure," Kuu said standing, "I'm getting hungry anyway, Kyoko let's go find a snack." Kyoko locked eyes with Kuon waiting for him to acknowledge his desire. Kuon nodded and smiled at his friend. Comforted, Kyoko followed his father outside."So, Kuon," Lory leaned back in his chair, "Your father tells me you are starting to get back into acting. It's easy to see what brought about this change." A small shock ran through Kuon but he nodded to confirm his words.

"What would you think about coming here, to LME? To get away from your father's shadow, at least a little bit."

Kuon hesitated. "Well," Lory took another puff of his cigar. "I could see why you wouldn't want to move to Japan, not when you got a girl back at home." Kuon froze and looked at Lory. At his unmoving expression Lory laughed, "What you didn't realize you're in love with the girl?"

"I.. I can't be."

"Keep telling yourself that Kuon and someone will snatch her away from you. Think on the offer, you don't need to make a decision now. You should probably go, before your father eats me out of house and home.

"Hey Kuon, I'm kinda hungry, I saw a machine just down the hall, I am going to go grab a snack. Do you want anything?" She asked him standing at the door. They had spent the morning doing some play fighting with some bored stunt men while Kuu worked, doing several promotional sets at the studio. So both were a more than a bit sweaty and rumpled in their work out gear. Kuon just gave Kyoko an "are you kidding" look and took a drink of his protein shake. Kyoko simply smiled at him, shook her head and closed the door to the green room behind her.

The minutes tricked by and Kyoko hadn't returned. Did she get lost? The machines were right around the corner? What happened? Standing Kuon made his way in the hall and started searching for his friend. It didn't take too long before he found her, well heard her might be a better word for it.

"NNNNNOOOOOOOOO I'M NOT A STALKER! I SWEAR! I AM HERE WITH HIZURI KUU! At this Kuon broke out in a run as he saw two security guards starting to carrty Kyoko away from a smug looking blond kid.

"Put her down right now," Kuon demanded drawing to his full height. The command stopped the security guards in their tracks. At the sound of his voice he saw Kyoko deflate in relief.

"Kuon! Thank goodness these guys wouldn't listen to me when I said that I was here with you!"

"Who's that?" The snotty looking teen asked.

"Hizuri Kuon, Kuu's son." One of the guards said putting her down. The blond laughed, "There is no way a guy like that is here with a girl like her, look at her she is a plain, boring, nobody." Then he looked at Kuon, "It was nice of you to try to play along with her, but you don't have to, let the guards do their job and handle this."

Kuon ignored him and went over to Kyoko and put his arm around her shoulder. "You OK there Kyoko?" he asked in intentional Japanese. He wanted this ass to understand that he knew her and wouldn't just hand her over to the guards.

She smiled up at him, a slight blush dusting her cheeks. "I'm fine, thanks." Switching to English he asked her, "So who is that guy anyway." Kyoko rolled her eyes and replied. "Shotoro, Sho, I told you about him when we were kids."

"The one who made you cry on the stairs?" She poked him playfully, "He wasn't the only one." Kuon smiled, "I know, I know, but I've apologize, he probably hasn't." Kuon nodded his head at Sho.

At this gesture, Sho seemed to snap out of whatever trance he was in and started attacking the girl again.

"This is so typical of you Kyoko. Let me guess you've devoted yourself to this loser, still can't think and act for yourself."

"Shut up Shotoro, Kuon is an amazing actor. He isn't a loser at all."

"Plllleeeaaassseee," he drawled, "He only gets this treatment because of his 'daddy.'" Sho mocked. "It's not like he earned anything like I have." The boy boasted.

"Just watch, one day he will be the top actor in the world. You wouldn't even be able to compete with him." She continued to defend him. Kuon felt a rush of emotions at her defense of his abilities. Shock that she thought so highly of him, happiness that he was defending her, and there was a bite of pain because it appeared his presence was forgotten by the two bickering teens.

Sho gave a derisive snort, "Of course he can, he has his father's name to build it all on, he won't even have to work at it or even have any real talent."

Kyoko shrugged her petite shoulders, "He could even if he used a stage name, the world would never know and he could still be the greatest." Sho just rolled his eyes, "With those looks? He stands out too much I'm sure everyone knows who his daddy is."

Kyoko opened her mouth getting ready to retaliate back when Kuon butted in, "Well as happy as it makes me that you think I could be the best, Kyoko, we have to get back to the green room. Ten will be here soon to get you ready for this evening." At his words the blond teen seems to be forgotten, her eyes sparkled and she started moving back to the room. "Oh I hope we aren't late, that would be terribly rude." With that she gestured a wave to her former friend and started skipping back. Kuon notice the teen moving to drag Kyoko back when a busty brunet came rushing up to him.

"Sho, come on, We have to get going. The show starts in 10 minutes." She said dragging the sullen teen away.

While he was happy to get Kyoko away from her former flame, the words the teen spoke burned inside of him. The blond asshole was right, how would he ever overcome his father if everyone knew who he was? He could change his name, yes, but it wasn't like he was an unknown. Being the son of the Hizuri's, he had his face splashed on tabloids since he was a newborn. It would be impossible for him to not be recognized in a heartbeat. The problem weighed on him as he got ready for his night out with Kyoko. Running his hands through his damp hair he studied his reflection. When Kyoko's words came back to him, "You can almost pass for a full blown Japanese person with the dark hair, but your eyes give it away. Well, your eye's and your height." He couldn't really do anything about the height, but maybe with the right dye job and some good contacts. Straightening he smiled at his reflection, "You're title as top entertainer in Japan is about to come crashing down, Fuwa."


	10. Epilogue - Kyoko

**Epilogue - Kyoko**

It's been a little over a year since she last saw Kuon but she would never forget the night that he decided to make a name for himself acting in Japan. He treated her to the most beautiful evening. He treated her to dinner at a rooftop restaurant that overlooked Tokyo.

"I've made a decision," Kuon told her a serious look in his eye.

"Oh?"

"I'm going to do what you suggested, I am going to take a stage name and come to Japan to act, as soon as graduation is over. I want to make a name for myself out from under dad's shadow. Will you help me?" Kyoko felt simultaneously proud, happy and sad for her friend, but she chose to only focus on the happy.

"Of course Kuon, but why do you need me to help you?"

"Will you please teach me to to behave and act like a Japanese Gentleman?"

Kyoko laughed, "Of course Kuon, but you know you will have to learn Kanji if you want to pass for Japanese."

Kuon groaned, "Dad will throw a parade when he finds out I am willing to Kanji."

"Well, I can help you with that too." Kuon looked at her hopefully. "Really? But what about you? How could I repay you?

At this she blushed furiously, "Well, both you and your dad said that I might be able to make it as an actress, I was thinking maybe you can give me acting lessons?"

Kuon's face grew solomon in the moonlight, "Who do you want to do this for Kyoko? Acting? Is this for you, or because you think dad or I might want you to do it?"

She blanched at his words. "I want to do it because I find acting fun. I've really enjoyed my performing arts class. I want to get better, then maybe one day I can give you a run for your money." She replied tartly.

Kuon laughed, "I don't doubt you will, OK Kyoko, it's a deal." They ate a few more moments in peace when. Kyoko was trying desperately not to let Kuon see how sad she was that he would be leaving her behind.

"Um, Kyoko." She looked up, Kuon's face was covered with a slight blush.

"Yes?"

"Are you still planning on moving back to Japan after you graduate high school." Kyoko simply nodded.

"Ah, well," his blush deepende, "When you come, will you go on a date with me?" Kyoko's answering smile was joyous, even though her face was roughly the shade of a tomato as she stutteringly agreed.

Now that she was on the plane back to Tokyo, she wondered if it would still happen. Would Kuon still want to go on a date with her? He quickly rose to the top of the entertainment industry in Japan and he had access to the most beautiful of women. She decided she wasn't going to pressure him or remind him. Hell, she didn't even know if she would see him once she got there. For a few months after he moved they kept up almost constant contact with each other, but as both of their schedules grew businer the quit talking as much. In fact, it had been nearly two months since she spoke to him. He didn't even know her plan was landing in Japan today. She thought about surprising him, but decided to wait till she was settled, then she would send him an email. She had an audition setup with LME's ecentric president to hopefully join the acting division. If she made the cut, then worst case scenario she would see Kuon there. But with him acting as Tsuruga Ren would he even acknowledge their friendship. At one point she had hoped for more than that, but she told herself that she would be happy to just be able to support him again.

Yawning Kyoko stretched as she stood up from the first class seat that Kuu and Julie booked her for her high school graduation present. Good to her word, Kyoko's mother signed every scrap of paper that allowed Kyoko to emancipate herself from her mother and set up her own life in Japan. She was a bit scared about what was to come, but she was happy to be back where she felt she belonged. Grabbing her carry on she began to make her way toward the baggage carousel. Pulling out her phone she sent a quick text to Kuu and Julie to let them know she arrived safely and to check the address on her accommodations. Lory had set up a small apartment for her to stay in. She wondered if it would feel lonely living alone. She was so immersed in what she was doing, that she didn't notice the large figure standing beside her.

"Excuse me miss," the voice whispered in her ear to which Kyoko responded with an ear splitting screech. Kuon doubled over laughing at her response. "Kuon?" She questioned then "responded with a smack upside the head, don't do that! You scared me." Then regaining her sense she paused. "Wait, why are you here?"

He smiled tenderly at her, and reached for her hand. "I'm here to pick you up, if you remember correctly you owe me a date."


End file.
